208511 - "<HOME>.mozilla/plugins" directory may not work if user share home directory on different platform

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Core Graveyard :: Plug-ins, defect)

Description

[Pete Zha]

Currently, the "<HOME>/.mozilla/plugins" directory if for mozilla to find
plugin. This may cause problem if the user share plugin on different platform.
For example, use NIS, you may mount your home directory anyware in the network.
We could use same information in home directory on different platform. So, if
user add a plugin in that directory on Linux, mozilla may meet problem when
startup on Solaris or other Unix platform. Even on linux, because of the
compiler problem, gcc 3.2 compiled mozilla may not work with gcc2.9x compiled
java plugin. It may lead to crash. So, that directory has architecture design
problem. I think we have following ways to avoid problem.
1) Add description in Release Notes. User may know this problem and will not put
plugin in that dir if they share home directory on different platfoem.
2) Make that directory to platform specific. For example, Solaris(Sparc) plugin
may in "plugins_sparc" dir. Other plugin may in it's own arch dir.
3) Disable that directory.

Pete

Comment 1

[Benjamin Smedberg]

We're not going to do anything about this now that Flash is the only one and most ld.so reject cross-arch loads successfully.